


Take Flight

by gingayellow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 23:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7334869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingayellow/pseuds/gingayellow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith's application to Galaxy Garrison/making friends with Shiro was, like Keith himself, a little awkward but unforgettable. [Shiro/Keith, pre-series, content warning for some violence and vehicles crashing]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Flight

**Author's Note:**

> One of my many "how they met" ideas for Shiro and Keith, tbh. :X

Title: Take Flight  
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender  
Characters/Pairing: Shiro/Keith  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: Not mine, anything mentioned here by name isn't mine  
Warnings: Some violence/vehicles crashing  
Notes: For hc_bingo, the prompt is "hunger/starvation." Pre-series, also, some more Robotech references. ;P

“You’re dead, thief!”

Keith couldn’t fight or run away, not when the shopkeeper had him pinned to a wall. So he settled for the next best thing. “All your apples are rotten, anyways!” he spat back, refusing to go down without some sign of resistance.

“You little…” The shop keeper made a fist with his free hand, and Keith closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

“Pa,” the shop keeper’s son (and the whole reason Keith had decided to steal some food from this store to begin with—he’d been arguing with his father, so he’d assumed no one would noticed someone smuggling apples into his jacket, so he wouldn't go hungry tonight) interrupted. He was a tall man with sickly green eyes. “You play piano. You can’t waste your hands on this brat.” He smiled toothily. “But I’m a boxer. After I give him a couple of black eyes, I’m sure he’ll reconsider stealing from us.”

The shopkeeper smiled back. “Yeah. Yeah, why not?” He began to shift his weight, so he could toss Keith to his son—something Keith used to his advantage as Keith shoved him, hard, and then ran for the door.

He didn’t have to look behind him to know they were still chasing him—there were footfalls, and people shouting in surprise. The shop keeper probably couldn’t keep up with him, but the son could, which meant Keith needed a quicker route of escape. He looked around him, desperate for anything.

“So Captain Hayes says my time is still a little slow, but my piloting skill shows promise—”

A young man, in a Galaxy Garrison uniform. Talking on his phone, next to his hovercraft. Innocently enjoying some time off.

The man was much taller than Keith, but Keith had surprise/the desire not to be beat up on his side. He shoved the man only as hard as was necessary so he could hop into the driver’s seat.

The man—now on the ground—looked up at Keith with huge eyes. As if he couldn’t believe someone could be cruel enough to steal from him.

_Typical Galaxy Garrison. Head is in the clouds; makes it easy to pick their pockets._

But the shock still made Keith’s stomach hurt, and maybe, if the shopkeeper’s son wasn’t in eyesight, Keith might’ve explained why he was doing this.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, starting the craft. “If I’m still in one piece, I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.” Then he took off.

He had a bit of a head start, which meant Keith could avoid the more populated streets and drive straight for the desert—less cover, but if he got enough of a lead, it wouldn’t matter. He could hide out, and in the morning return the craft to… Takashi Shirogane, if the name on the notes next to him were correct.

“ **Thief!** ”

… Of course it was the shopkeeper’s son. Of course he had a hovercraft of his own.

So much for just running to the desert. Keith made a sharp right turn, narrowly avoiding another craft in the process. He could hear familiar shouting, which met that he was still being followed.

Keith glanced behind him. The jerk was still trailing him, avoiding crashing into a young woman only because she swerved just in time. She yelled something unkind to the shopkeeper’s son, but he ignored her. Which meant that if Keith wanted to avoid people getting hurt just because he didn’t want to go to jail, he needed to get creative.

Hovercrafts weren’t space ships, but some of them could fly pretty dang well—and he was willing to bet that someone in Galaxy Garrison would have one of those models (because until you could get into space, a hovercraft with boosters was the next best thing).

He turned, and turned, waiting for just the right moment when traffic cleared up, and **yes**. No people calling him a thief, or wanting to hurt him. No sad-eyed men from Galaxy Garrison. It was just him and the sky.

… And the shopkeeper’s son, who steered his craft to thud into Shirogane’s.

Keith was already flying as fast as he could—any further and he’d wreck. “You’re going to kill us both!” he screamed over the motor’s roar.

“What does a thief like you know about anything?!” was the brilliant reply as his pursuer rammed into the hovercraft again.

Keith gritted his teeth, only too aware he was going to crash. But he needed to do so as safely as he could—he disliked the guy chasing him, but he did not want him to die. Maybe, if he rolled and then dove, he could get away—yes, **good**.

He was going to crash now, but at least he wasn’t going to hurt anyone else in the process.

\--

_**It’s okay. I have you. ******_

Keith fought his way through the haze of pain/exhaustion. He was being held by someone, but who? It took effort, but he opened his eyes.

Takashi Shirogane gazed down at him.

Aw, geez. He was probably mad about the hovercraft. Keith needed to apologize. “Sorry…” Was his voice always so thick? “Didn’t wanna wreck it…”

**_Don’t worry about that. Just rest._ **

“Can’t,” he said, then coughed. People were after him. People wanted to hurt him. He didn’t want to go back to jail.

_**I have you. Relax.** _

He shouldn’t. He could only count on himself.

(But Takashi Shirogane had him wrapped up, nice and safe, and he was so sleepy…)

Maybe just this once.

\--

Keith woke up in a bed, which was a bit of a shock, since he didn’t have a bed (just an old mattress). Which meant…

He looked around. He was in a hospital.

“Great,” he grumbled. So possible jail time, and possible hospital bills. Freaking perfect.

Well, it couldn’t be helped now. It was time to learn about his surroundings. There was nothing too shocking—two chairs, a vid screen, and… flowers? Who would send him flowers? It wasn’t anything extravagant—just a few red roses—but it did make the place less sterile.

Keith’s hands were heavily bandaged—that was right, he cut them escaping from the hovercraft. But there was a tiny card attached to the roses. He was still achy, but Keith managed to shift around so he take a peek. The handwriting was small, so he had to squint to read a few lines about how hopefully Keith would feel better soon, with the name ‘Takashi Shirogane’ at the bottom.

“What?! Who the heck buys flowers for the guy who stole his hovercraft?”

“Um. I would.”

Keith froze at the sight of Takashi Shirogane smiling at him from the doorframe, but he recovered. “What do you want with me,” he replied tersely.

“Nothing. I just hoped we could talk.” He motioned to one of the chairs. “Do you mind?” When Keith shrugged, he took a chair, scooting close to the bed. “I’m Takashi. But please, feel free to call me Shiro.” He smiled.

Keith frowned. “I’m Keith Kogane. So, when are the cops coming to arrest me?” Because even if this Shiro wasn’t going to have him arrested, the men at the shop would.

Shiro nodded. “I guess now is a good time to tell you. The younger gentleman is currently in stable condition. He and his father are also dealing with a couple suing them for stealing a hovercraft to chase you, so between that and me explaining to the authorities that you were scared, I think you’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, but I did some hovercraft stealing as well. And crashing.”

“Not beyond repair, and seeing how you were shaking like leaf as you did so, I imagine you had a good reason.” He smiled, a little. “I think we can let you off with a warning this time.”

“Thanks,” Keith managed. The hospital bills would be a pain, but at least he probably wasn’t going to jail. That was a relief. “In that case, why are you here?”

“Mostly to make sure you’re okay.” Shiro should have been annoying by now, the way he kept smiling so gently at Keith. But it was actually soothing, in a weird way. It’d been awhile since someone had been pleased to see Keith. “Forgive me if I’m presuming, but I’m guessing you don’t have anyone to look out for you.”

“You’d guess right,” Keith admitted, his voice rough. He didn’t like talking about it, but there was no point in pretending he wasn’t an orphan living in a shack in the desert. “But I get by.” Then he scowled as his bangs (which were getting a little too long) fell in his eyes. He tried to blow them away, but it was no good.

“May I?” Shiro leaned in.

“Yeah.” So much for getting by, he though glumly as Shiro carefully brushed the bangs from his face, but at least he could see again.

“But I would be lying if I didn’t say that I had a more selfish reason for speaking to you, Keith.” Shiro gazed at him levelly. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“I stole your hovercraft.”

“You also successfully maneuvered it around a busy street, lifted off flawlessly, managed some aerial ticks that make some of the most experienced pilots at Galaxy Garrison look like amateurs, and crashed as safely as you could.” Shiro huffed gently. “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s a talented pilot like yourself doing in a place like this?”

Keith looked away. “I’m not a pilot.” He’d wanted to be one, when he was young. But training cost money and connections he did not have.

“You could be.”

“Oh, really.” Keith laughed bitterly, because he remembered these type of speeches in high school, how he was brilliant at science and math, but no college wanted to enroll a juvenile delinquent. “Are you here to offer me a full scholarship to Galaxy Garrison? Because that’s pretty much the only way I could become a pilot at this point.”

“Actually, yes,” Shiro said without missing a beat.

“What.”

“We’re dealing with a pilot vacuum, Keith. Galaxy Garrison is planning on several space missions in the next two years, but there aren’t enough people qualified to fly the ship. One of the men we were planning to train decided at the last minute to elope and move to New Zealand with his new spouse, so there’s an opening, along with a full scholarship.” He handed Keith some forms. “How did you do in high school?”

“Pretty good.” He knew he’d done well enough to apply to Shiro’s school, if not afford it. “But don’t I also need a reference?”

Shiro raised his hand. “Additionally, Captains Hayes and Grant saw your piloting on some video some of the people watching caught on their phones. They think you deserve a chance as well.”

“There’s gotta be someone else on a waiting list.”

“Not for fighter class ships.”

“… I have a record.”

“Keith.” Again, Shiro didn’t miss a beat. “Do you want to be a pilot?”

“Might be nice.” He hated how hope crept into his tone.

But Shiro didn’t seem to mind that at all. “Then apply. We’ll handle everything else.” He stood up to his full height. “I’ll leave you to rest. I hope to see you soon—”

"Shiro."

Shiro stopped mid-step. “Yes?”

This was so embarrassing, but… “I’m going to need your help. My hands are still healing, so I can’t fill them out on my own.”

“Oh, of course!” Shiro sat down again, taking out a pen. “I’m sorry; I’m not usually that scatterbrained.”

Keith felt himself smile. “To be fair, someone did steal your hovercraft recently.” He didn’t usually joke around (or talk to) people. But if he really was going to do this, maybe trying to make a friend wouldn’t be a bad idea.


End file.
